Method and apparatus for adjusting the fit and appearance of an article of apparel

ABSTRACT

A method of using a fastening system includes providing at least one wire tie, located a position of a hank of a material to be adjusted, wherein, in the position, upon a gathering of the hank, results in a desired adjustment of the material and wherein the desired adjustment is as a result of the adjustments chosen from the group comprising: a shortening of the material, a waisting of the material, a pinching of the material, a pleating of the material, a folding of the material, a gathering of the material, a bundling of the material, a fastening together of a plurality of pieces of the material, then gathering the hank of the material to cause the desired result, wrapping the tie around the hank, and manipulating the beads so as to bend the opposite ends of the wire and the pair of beads to flatten the hank so as to mask the hank.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/764,885 filed Feb. 14, 2013 entitled METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE FIT AND APPEARANCE OF AN ARTICLE OF APPAREL

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of devices and methods for alteringthe fit and appearance of a person's clothing, and for temporarilyfastening objects or adjusting a person's hair, and in particular tosuch device and method employing wire ties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clothing is made for the masses. Not everyone has a body shape that fitsinto standard sizes. For example: a small person in body may have bigarms therefore needing to buy a larger size blouse that fits the armsbut leaves the torso area too big so that the neckline is too low andthe blouse is baggy around middle, etc. Because custom tailoring isexpensive and therefore not an option for most people, the problem isthen that a lot of standard sized clothes do not fit properly and thusmay be unappealing, inappropriately revealing, or uncomfortable to wear.

Each piece of clothing has a built in style. People search for thosepieces that show off their style. Thus, a person's choice of clothes isa statement.

Clothes, especially women's clothes, are quite often complicated to fitproperly. Once fitted, people change as they get older. They may growbigger or smaller, or develop or obtain other issues that they try tohide (scars, tattoos, fat, etc.). In addition, styles which areconsidered fashionable change over time. What worked for attire a yearor two ago may not work anymore. Applicant has found that there is notan off-the-rack solution for everyone, for all situations and seasons.Consequently, many people spend a lot of time searching for the rightclothing. In general, clothes are not very versatile. It is often astruggle to find what fits and what looks good.

Applicant has determined that, at times, all it would take for people,especially women, to look and feel better about their appearance is toprovide a tuck, hold, lift or gather in the right places on a garment.There are many types of clasps, clips, pins, magnets, that have beenused to create temporary holds for clothes. These many types of clasps,clips, pins, magnets have been used in endeavoring to provide aneffective means for removeably holding fabric together without damage.Safety pins create damage including holes in clothing and are typicallyused for emergency situations to immediately secure clothing, bandages,etcetera. Brooches include a pin as well and thus also will put holes inclothing. A brooch is typically meant and used for decoration only. Ascarf clip sits on the clothing joining the two ends and has a smallclasp for its limited purpose. A magnetic clothes gathering clasp iscapable of creating a temporary hold without damaging the fabric but itis very visibly performing its function. It is able to gather theclothing like a rubber band, but is obvious in its use and limited toone hold and the strength of a magnet.

The following is a partial list of clothing issues which often have tobe addressed in fitting off-the-rack standard sized clothing: the styleis not versatile, the neckline is too low or too high or of the wrongshape, there is no definition in the body/torso area, the shoulderstraps are too long/loose/falling, the shoulder bra straps show wherethey shouldn't, garment material keeps riding up torso looking messy andshowing stomach, there are not enough belt loops or belt loops are inthe wrong spot to hold a belt end or a garment is lacking belt loops, agarment needs to be cinched at the waist line, a dress is too long, adress billows out more than desired, a dress is too wide, a blouse istoo long, a blouse is too wide or billows out at bottom, sleeves are toowide, sleeves are too long and will not stay up with folding over, seamsturn over to the wrong side exposing the back of the seam, a bathingsuit top gaps at sides, ties are too short to make nice bow or looseknot, or ties have too much material and therefore the bow is too big.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein refer to a decorative wire ties that whenused according to the method described herein create temporary holds onfabric and hair that does not harm the fabric or hair. The wire ties areused to selectively adjust the look, lift and feel of a user's garmentor hair. The wire tie may be used by creating a loop and pulling a hankof fabric through the loop and tightening the loop, or by encircling thewire tie around the hair or fabric, and then wrapping so as to betightly wrapped around the fabric or hair. Examples of the results ofsuch use include creating pleats in clothing, shortening hem lines intops, skirts, dresses and sleeves, and altering neck lines, to name justa few uses. More uses are listed below.

The decorative wire tie and method described herein may be used to makeclothing fit better and/or to change the style of clothing, and/or as ahold for hair, either joining pieces of hair together for unique stylesor to wrap around hair lengths for decoration. The wire ties may in oneembodiment for example be made from wires that are for example 20 to 22gauge, depending on the flexibility, strength and desired decorativeaspect of the piece. One example of a decorative wire tie is five incheslong made from 22 gauge half soft wire and includes two clearly defineddecorative ends, referred to herein collectively as beads. This lengthis not intended to be limiting as other lengths may also work fordifferent weight fabrics, etcetera, so that the length of the wire tiemay range for example from one or two inches, to eighteen inches.

In one aspect, not intended to be limiting, a method for adjusting thefit and appearance of an article of apparel is described herein whichmay for example include the steps of:

-   -   (a) providing an elongate selectively deformably bendable wire        member having opposite first and second ends, wherein said        bendable member is deformable between an unwrapped position and        a wrapped position and to remain so deformed when bent into        either position or between either position.    -   (b) providing a wearing apparel of fabric having a plurality of        fitting dimensions and oppositely disposed interior and exterior        surfaces, and gathering a hank of the fabric; that is, a        gathering or bunching of the apparel fabric, so as to project        the hank cantilevered from the exterior surface of the apparel,        whereby at least one fitting dimension of the apparel is        substantially altered by the formation of the hank, and wherein        said fit dimension is chosen from the group comprising:        -   a) a lateral width        -   b) a height        -   c) a length        -   d) a waist line        -   e) a bust line        -   f) a hem line        -   g) a shoulder width        -   h) an inseam,    -   (c) positioning the member so as to press a mid-portion of the        member against the projection of the hank, closely adjacent the        exterior surfaces of the apparel adjacent the hank,    -   (d) wrapping at least one half turn of each of the opposite ends        of the member around the hank so that the member extends        substantially at least completely around the hank and snugging        the member around the hank so as to releasably stabilize, clamp        and/or lock the hank in its position on the apparel and so as to        leave the opposite ends of the member each cantilevered from the        hank,    -   (e) pressing the cantilevered ends of the member against any        bunching of the fabric around the hank so as to flatten said        bunching and/or the hank against the exterior surface of the        apparel.

The method may include providing decorative ornamentation on saidmember, and in particular may include providing said ornamentation inthe form of beads on one or both of said opposite ends of said memberand/or on said mid-portion of said member.

The method may include forming two or more of the hanks and using one ofthe members to stabilize and lock the two or more hanks of the fabric.

The method may include forming two or more of the hanks and using two ormore corresponding the members to the stabilize and lock the two or morehanks.

The method may further include twisting the ends of the member aroundeach other following winding of the member around the hank so as toreleasably lock the mid-portion of the member at the hank while leavingthe ends cantilevered from the hank.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings wherein like reference numerals denote correspondingparts in each view,

FIG. 1 is a wire tie according to one embodiment shown in frontelevation and bent into a single medial loop.

FIG. 2 is, in front elevation view, the tie of FIG. 1, when straight.

FIG. 3 is, in rear elevation view, the tie of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is, in partially cut-away front elevation view, a length ofcoated wire used in the manufacture of the tie of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is, in partially cut-away view, the coated wire of FIG. 4partially shrouded in a fabric covering.

FIG. 6 is, in partially cut-away view, the coated and covered wire ofFIG. 5 showing the non-coated end of the wire used to double back andwrap the end of the wire covering.

FIG. 7 is, in partially cut-away view, the covered wire end of FIG. 6mounted into a clay bead.

FIG. 8 is, in top perspective view, a decorative button which may beemployed to form part of bead of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is, in rear perspective view, the button of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is, in partially cut-away view, the interior of the bead of FIG.7 showing the end of the covered wire and the spiralling of the exposedend of the wire so as to form a laterally extending anchor within thebead.

FIG. 11 is, in perspective view, the bead of FIG. 10 end casing the wireanchor.

FIG. 12 is, the partially cut-away view, of FIG. 10 showing the wrappingprocedure so as to form the wire anchor.

FIG. 13 is the bead of FIG. 11 partially cut-away to show the relativedimensions of one embodiment of the wire-anchor encased within the bead.

FIG. 14 is, in from elevation view, a further embodiment of a wire tiehaving a loop along the covered wire.

FIG. 15 is the tie of FIG. 14 when straight.

FIG. 16 is, in partially cut-away front elevation view, a furtherembodiment of the wire anchor formed at one end of the covered wire forencasing in a bead.

FIG. 17 is, in partially cut-away rear elevation view, a second wireanchor formed behind the wire anchor of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is, in left side elevation view, the pair of wire anchors formedon opposite sides of the end of the covered wire of FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIG. 19 is, in right side elevation view, the wire anchors of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is, in front elevation view, a user wearing a garment wherein awaist of the garment has been adjusted by using a wire tie to gather ahank of the waist material.

FIG. 21 is, in partially cut-away front elevation view, the initialforming of the hank which is shown gathered in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is the view of FIG. 21 with the hank rolled onto the tie.

FIG. 23 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 20 showing the hankgathered by the tie.

FIG. 24 is, in back elevation view, a further use of a wire tie by thegathering of a hank of garment material worn by a user so as to draw inthe waist of the garment, wherein one side of the garment has beengathered.

FIG. 25 is the view of FIG. 24 wherein both sides of the garment havebeen gathered so as to snug the waist of the garment around the user.

FIG. 26 is, in side elevation view, the forming of a hank of garmentmaterial in FIG. 25 and showing a wire tie being positioned to gatherthe hank.

FIG. 27 is the view of FIG. 26 with the tie snugged and locked aroundthe base of the hank of material.

FIG. 28 is, in front elevation view, the hank and tie of FIG. 27 whereinthe hank has been folded down over the material of the garment andsecured in place by the folding down of the ends of the tie.

FIG. 29 is an illustration of the use of a wire tie to gather a hank ofmaterial so as to shorten a garment and cinch the waist, and so as tochange the shape of neckline and strap.

FIG. 30 is, in front elevation view, the use of a wire tie to shorten askirt, showing the first step to shorten a skirt, wherein the user liftsthe skirt to desired length with excess fabric showing at top.

FIG. 31 is, in front elevation view, the forming of a pair of hanks ofskirt material so as to draw in the waist of the skirt around the waistof a user.

FIG. 32 is the view of FIG. 31 wherein a wire tie has been positionedaround the base of the pair of hanks.

FIG. 33 is the view of FIG. 32 wherein the tie has been wrapped tightlyaround the base of the pair of hanks and locked.

FIG. 34 is the view of FIG. 33 wherein the tie has been folded down overthe pair of hanks so as to lay the pair of hanks flush down against thesurface of the garment.

FIG. 35 is the view of FIG. 34 wherein the hanks and tie have beentucked in behind the waist of the skirt.

FIG. 36 is, in front elevation view, a user wearing a garment havingshoulder straps and illustrating the mounting of a wire tie onto each ofthe shoulder straps.

FIG. 37 is, in partially cut-away view, the wrapping of one of the tiesaround one of the shoulder straps in FIG. 36.

FIG. 38 is the view of FIG. 37 wherein the shoulder strap and the tiehave been twisted together and rotated so as to entwine the strap withthe tie thereby shortening the shoulder strap.

FIG. 39 is the view of the FIG. 36 with the shoulder straps of thegarment shortened.

FIG. 40 is, a partially cut-away enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 39showing the shortening of a shoulder strap by the twisting of a tie withthe shoulder strap according to the illustration of FIG. 38.

FIG. 41 is, in front elevation view, a user wearing a scarf which hasbeen gathered on the users chest using a single wire tie and wherein adecorative object is suspended from the tie.

FIG. 42 is, in front elevation view, a user wearing a garment whereinthe neckline of the garment has been lowered by the use of a wire tiegathering a hank formed from the front centre of the neckline.

FIG. 43 is, in front elevation view, a user wearing a scarf secured bywrapping a tie tightly around the ends of the scarf from top to bottom.

FIG. 44 is, in front elevation view, a user wherein wire ties are usedto secure the user's bangs and to secure the user's pigtails, whereinone pigtail is tied, the other one wrapped.

FIG. 45 is, in front elevation view, the head of a user showing a wiretie used to create a bun or ponytail on the top of the user's head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A decorative wire member or tie is described that, when appliedproperly, can create a strong temporary hold on a hank of fabric so asto adjust the fit of the fabric as part of wearing apparel, and toflatten the hank for example. While performing its function, thefunction of the decorative wire tie is overlooked by an observer; thatis, the function is disguised or not so readily apparent when viewed asprimarily only the decorative aspect is noticed.

By creating a loop of decorative wire tie around the hank of fabric, andthen tightening the wire and giving the wire half a turn, creates alocked, secure hold with the wire tie which will not harm the fabric orhair, and which is not permanent.

To make a blouse or dress fit better, to give just two examples, tochange the apparel's style from formal to sexy or to modest with a fewtwists of wire ties is a new way of dressing. A user will find thatclothes that have been passed over are worth putting on again, with theuser seeing what can be done using decorative wire tie as describedbelow. The lifespan of many wardrobes may thus be extended.

To make pleats using the decorative wire tie the fabric of the clothingitself must be flexible. The lighter the fabric the more flexibility thefabric has and the more ways the decorative wire tie may be used.

The wire tie may be used to create many different effects on fabricclothing by using multiple gathering points. The wire tie may be used tore-direct the fabric away from a fold to make the fold less bulky whilenot drawing a viewer's attention the wire tie's function as hardware butinstead leaving the viewer with primarily the decorative impressiononly. Again, the body of the wire tie is looped around a hank formed inthe fabric, and the ends of the tie are pulled tightly together, andsecured by turning or twisting the ends around one another where theymeet. This may be used to create a pleat. Multiple pleats may be createdwith the same length of wire tie. The decorative parts such as the beadson the ends of the tie are positioned over, and may be pressed downonto, the fabric hank, thereby hiding the hank.

The wire tie may also be used as discussed further below by rolling itin the fabric so that the tie is encased in a tube of fabric, and thenlooping or twisting the tube of fabric containing the wire to a desiredshape. As used herein, the gathering of the fabric around the wire tieto form the fabric tube around the wire tie is also referred to as thegathering of a hank of fabric, in that the function and end result is ofdrawing in fabric from the garment into the hank, and securing the hankin place with the tie. Again, the hank is finished by manipulating thewire ends to encircle, and cover or fold over onto the hank.

The wire ties may be used to encircle shoulder straps, and may also beused on the inside of clothing to create fit adjustments with nohardware/decoration showing.

The wire ties may also be used as an accessory for hair. The wire twistcan be used to manipulate hair in the same fashion as on fabric/cloth.It can have many holding positions with one wire tie; that is, it can beused to direct hair, hold hair or just as an adornment.

The use of the wire ties described herein to adjust the fit, look, andthe feel to the user of a garment may be described as including, but notlimited to the following uses: change the style of clothing, elevateneckline, drop neckline, create definition in the torso, create falseseams, shorten dresses, shorten blouses, shorten skirts, modify thestyle of shoulder straps, to replace a knot or bow, as a scarf tie,lengthen or shorten a strap, to secure or curl hair.

Construction

The following description describes one method of making a wire tie, butis not intended to be limiting.

A 22 gauge, round cross-section, stainless steel half-soft length ofwire has its opposite ends coiled or balled (herein reflectivelyreferred to as being formed as a spiral) to have a pleasing and distinctappearance at each end. The finished length of the tie may be forexample one inch for light weight fabric or narrow straps, up to forexample eighteen inches for bulky fabrics, beach towels, etcetera. Theends of the wire may be formed as various shapes using for example aformable, curable material including moldable clay, metal, rubber, glue,latex, plastic etc. The ends of the wire tie are encased in this way toform beads, and so as to ensure that no sharp point of wire is leftprotruding which may catch and harm fabric/people.

Although the wire tie has a minimum of one and preferably two distinctdecorative beads, that is, preferably one at each end, there may also bemore beads along the body of the wire tie, for example, at the medialpoint along its length etc.

The wire is sufficiently flexible for ease of manual manipulation, sothat it may be manipulated to create a secure temporary hold or lock(herein collectively referred to as a lock), because the tie can fold ortwist over onto itself thereby temporarily locking the hold.

The body of the wire tie, that is, the length of the tie extendingbetween the beads at the opposite ends of the tie, may be made with avariety of different gauge wires. The body may also include beadingalong its length of wire and/or coating of the wire with plastic,rubber, silicone, etc.

The ends of the tie need to be easily identifiable for ease of the usersecuring and releasing a locking twist of the tie, for example around soas to lock a hank of fabric.

The ends are formed as what are referred to herein as “beads”. Beads aredecorative pieces secured to the ends of the body of the tie. Each beadis a separate piece; and may include a bead, button, jewel or ornament.The bead may either be attached by the wire going through it and gluedor set in place as described better below.

The prior art is replete with examples of mechanical clamping devicesuseful for clamping soft objects such as clothing and hair. What is notfound however is a method of decoratively and functionally adjusting thestyle and fit of clothing or the way hair is worn using a device whichmay be inexpensively mass-produced and may be easily used once themethod of its use according to one aspect of the present invention isknow to the user.

One such device is shown by way of example in FIGS. 1-3, and whoseconstruction is better understood by a review of the illustrations inFIGS. 5-12 described below. In FIG. 1, tie 10 is shown with the centralbody 12 looped between the beads 14 formed on either end. Beads 14 mayhave a decorative face 14 a or a undecorated face 14 b, as seen in FIGS.2 and 3 respectively. Body 12 is advantageously covered along its entirelength in a flexible sheath or sleeve or wrap 12 a. Advantageously, thefaces, for example either faces 14 a or 14 b, of beads 14 provide asufficiently large surface area to allow ease of manipulation of body 12by a user when forming spirals, loops and other shapes for the purposesof adjusting for example clothing and the disguising of the presence ofoperation of tie 10 as described below.

As seen in FIG. 4, in one preferred embodiment, body 12 includes coatedwire 16 within coating 12 a. One example of the coating of coated wire16 is polyolefin heat-shrunk tubing mounted onto a core of wire 16 a,wherein wire 16 a is of known malleable material of sufficient gauge toallow repeated bending of coated wire 16 while in use without theexcessive fatiguing and breaking. Without intending to be limiting, itis been found that 20 or 22 gauge copper wire works, for example, wiremarketed by Beadalon™ as 22 gauge, round, medium temper, German stylewire. On the wire hardness scale provided by Beadalon™, such mediumtempered wire has a 3/8 hardness.

If starting with bare BeadalonT™ German style wire, then coated wire 16may be formed by sliding a length of polyolefin tubing, such as sold by3M Corporation as thin-wall tubing, model no. FP301 polyolefin tubing,over a length of the aforesaid German style Beadalon™ wire. For example,1/16 inch diameter polyolefin tubing may be used to cover 22 gauge wireand heating the combined wire and polyolefin tubing is heated at 270°Centigrade for 20 minutes. As would be know to one skilled in the art,the use of polyolefin tubing is not intended to be limiting, as othercoatings 12 a such as of silicon or rubber may also work. Applicant hasfound that, using a 12 inch length of the aforesaid German style wireand centering an approximately 5½ inch length of polyolefin tubing onthe length of Beadalon™ wire will work to produce a tie 10 of a usefulsize. Applicant has found that this coating of the wire considerablylengthens the life of the wire. In use, coated wire does not break,presumably from bending fatigue, for quite some time much longer thanuncoated wire. Applicant has observed that the coated wire not only hasan extended lifespan, but also prevents permanent, sharp breaking of thewire.

Coated wire 16 may be subsequently covered with a sheath, sleeve or wrap12 a (herein referred to as a sleeve 12 a), leaving the uncoated ends ofwire 16 a protruding from either end thereof. Sleeve 12 a may forexample be a wrapped length of fabric or like cushioning material, suchas for example a length of material akin to a soft shoelace, wrapped ina tight spiral along the entire length of coated wire 16.

If using shoelace, the shoelace core may be removed and the wirejournalled through the remaining sleeve of the shoelace. The sleeve mayfor example be a braided tube. The braided tube may be tensioned so asto tighten the braided tube around the wire. The ends of the shoelacesleeve may advantageously be embedded into the clay of beads 14 so as tolock the sleeve in place and tensioned once the clay is baked. Thisremoves the need to glue the ends of the shoelace sleeve in place.Applicant has found that this manner of securing the ends of the sleevein the clay results in a longer lasting fastening than the use of gluealone.

The ends of sleeve 12 a may be secured as seen in FIG. 6 using theuncoated protruding ends of wire 16 a. Uncoated ends of wire 16 a may,as shown, be doubled back onto a corresponding end of sleeve 12 a, andthe wire wound therearound to secure the sleeve in place on top ofcoated wire 16. In FIG. 6 the wound ends of uncoated wire 16 a, wherethey are wrapped onto the corresponding ends of sleeve 12 a areindicated by reference numeral 16 b. The securing of wire 16 a onto theends of sleeve, may take the form of several spiralled snug turns of thewire, leaving excess wire 16 a, indicated in FIG. 6 by reference numeral16 c, dangling. The excess wire 16 c of wire 16 a should be ofsufficient length so that it may be formed as an anchor to be mountedinto, so as to be formed integrally with, a corresponding bead 14.

As seen in FIGS. 10 and 12, a desirable form of anchor using end 16 c ofend 16 a within bead 14 is not only secured around the end of sleeve 12a by wire segment 16 b, but also extends laterally outwardly from thesides of the end of sleeve 12 a. For example the anchor may be formed ina roughly circular spiral-like (or similar functional effect) patternextending laterally outwardly into the side flanges 14 c of bead 14. Asshown by arrows A in FIG. 12, the end wire portions 16 c may be formedin a circular fashion in direction A, for example as a flattened spiralso that coated wire 16 within sleeve 12 a is embedded within bead 14.Because of the anchor formed by the extension of wire portions 16 claterally outwardly into the bead flanges 14 c, in the end product suchas seen FIG. 11, a force applied by the user for example in direction Bagainst one of the bead flanges 14 c of the finished bead 14 may rotatebead 14 about its axis of rotation C, which extends along thelongitudinal axis of coated wire 16 when wire 16 is linear, i.e.,straight. Thus the user may twist bead 14 into a useful orientationwhile also twisting the coated wire 16 and sleeve 12 a held securelywithin the bead by reason of the anchoring using the wire end portion 16c to provide the lateral mounting foundation within the bead.

A further example of the anchoring of the ends of the wire within acorresponding bead is shown in FIGS. 16-19. In FIG. 16 wire end portion16 c is shown in a substantially planar spiral, which spirals outwardlyfrom the wire portion 16 b, where it is clamping the corresponding endof sleeve 12 a. The distal end of the wire end portion 16 c as seen inFIG. 16, appears to disappear behind sleeve 12 a. Advantageously, asseen in FIG. 17-19, rather than the distal end of the wire end portion16 c merely terminating, it extends to the opposite side of thecorresponding end of sleeve 12 a where it is formed in a substantiallymirror image spiral as seen in the view of FIG. 17. Thus as seen in theopposite side elevation views of FIGS. 18 and 19, the two substantiallyplanar spirals formed from wire end portions 16 c provide a pair ofanchoring coils which sandwich therebetween the end of sleeve 12 a andthe corresponding end of wire 16.

A bead 14 such as seen in the examples of round beads in FIGS. 14 and15, may then be formed as described below so as to fully encase theoppositely disposed pair of substantially planar anchor coils withineach bead 14.

Beads 14 may be formed of many different materials, in many various waysas would be known to one skilled in the art. One example, which is notintended to be limiting in any way, is the forming of beads 14 using aheat curable clay, such as for example commercially available sculptingclay which may be formed and then baked or otherwise heated so as to setthe clay. One such commercially available sculpting clay is sold underthe trade-mark Sculpey. If for example beads 14 are to be formed ofclay, the clay is pressed into the spaces between the anchor coils ofthe wire end portions 16 c, without forming air pockets, so that thearea sandwiched between the oppositely disposed planar coils of wire endportions 16 c and the spacing voids 16 d within the coils, arecompletely filled with clay. Further clay is moulded around the outsideof the pair of anchoring coils so as to fully encase them or so as toleave the wire exposed. As desired, a decorative finish such as forexample the swirl effect shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, may be applied beforeor after curing of the clay to thereby form the decorative face 14 a oneach bead 14. Glazes or other finishing coatings as would be know to oneskilled in the art may be applied. In the case of the Sculpey example,the entire tie 10 is heated at 270° C. for 30 minutes.

Beads 14 may also be formed so as to incorporate conventional decorativeobjects such as decorative buttons. The eye typically found on the rearface of the button may be used to secure the button to the wire anchor,for example by the threading one length of the wire through the eye andthen forming the bead around the wire as described above, so as toencase or frame the button. This then anchors the button into bead 14while leaving the decorative surface of the button exposed, for exampleon one of the faces of the bead.

It will be noted that, although only two beads 14 have been describedfor mounting at the opposite ends of tie 10, more beads may be formedalong the length of tie 10 to provide further decorative aspects andthereby provide further locations along tie 10 where a user may easilymanipulate the shape and lie of the tie.

A further problem addressed by the present invention is that of tyinglaces, wherein the reference herein to shoe laces is understood toinclude laces for all forms of footwear. Not everyone knows how to tieshoe laces. Often people avoid buying lace-up shoes for their childrenof the elderly because don't how to or no longer can tie the laces.

To solve this problem, wire tie 10 may be used. A tie 10 may be threadedthrough the eyelets and the ends of tie 10 twisted around each other atthe upper eyelets to lock the tension. Alternatively separate ties 10may be used in separate nodules, each holding their own position. Theends of tie 10 may be hidden inside the shoe. Another feature of the tie10 is that very little of the shoe face is hidden. The use of ties 10gives people who cannot tie a shoelace the option to buy shoes thatrequire laces.

A further problem addressed by the present invention is that, inbedding, a duvet shifts around inside its cover, leaving some spots withno coverage and leaving the duvet bunched up in others. The duvet coveris large and therefore this problem is cumbersome and may be difficultto fix, yet it may become uncomfortable if it is left. To cure thisproblem it is known to sew snaps to both a duvet and its cover, or tosew on strings or straps, but this takes time and requires a knowledgeof sewing. Often there is excess material on the sides of a duvet cover,making its difficult to secure the duvet to its cover with straps orclips. Using the present invention, a tie 10 may be easily appliedanywhere the duvet and its cover come together. Tie 10 will not harm thefabric, such as by putting holes through it, be heavy or hard to lay on,and may be hidden and secured from the inside or the outside of thecover. It does not matter if the duvet cover is bigger than the duvet asit will secure one to the other anywhere they meet by pinching a pieceof fabric away from the body of the duvet and from the cover so as toform a hank from the duvet and cover, and twisting a tie around the hankand locking it.

As seen in the figures commencing in FIG. 20 onwards, a method accordingto a further aspect of the present invention is illustrated by thesequence of steps shown in several examples. Thus in FIG. 20, thematerial of a garment 18 being worn by a user 20 is snugged around theuser's waist 20 a by the gathering of a hank 22, in this instance fromthe waist or hem 18 a of garment 18, and the gathering of hank 22 usingtie 10. In this example, not intended to be limiting, tie 10 is rolledup into a tubular form of hank 22 so as to thereby bind hank 22 onto tie10 by the rolling of the end of hank 22 and tie 10 in direction E aboutthe longitudinal axis of tie 10 when linear, designated by referencenumeral F as seen in FIG. 21. With hank 22 rolled onto tie 10 as seen inFIG. 22, tie 10 is then looped so as to loop tie 10 and hank 22 as seenin FIG. 23. This is referred to as one form of wrapping tie 10 aroundhank 22. This pulls the fabric of the material of waist 18 a together indirections G thereby snugging the waist of garment 18. With tie 10formed into a loop so as to gather hank 22, the exposed ends of tie 10may be twisted around one another to form a releasable, or twisted lock24 consisting of the ends of the tie wrapped around themselves to thussecure gathered hank 22. The exposed ends of tie 10 including beads 14may then be left to decoratively extend below waist 18 a or may bemanipulated so as to bend tie 10, thereby allowing the exposed ends oftie 10 to be tucked up under waist 18 a to hide them from view. One ofthe beads 14 may be bent over so as to cover the loop of hank 22 toagain thereby decoratively cover the loop.

In the example of FIGS. 24-29, the midriff 18 b of garment 18 istightened to cause a waisting of garment 18 around the user's midriff.The desired position of a hank 22 which will cause the desired waistingof garment 18 is first located on the midriff 18 b. For example, hank 22shown formed in FIG. 26 of the material of midriff 18 b, may beinitially pulled outwardly from the garment substantially on thecentreline 18 c (showing in dotted outline) so as to symmetrically causea waisting of midriff 18 b. The material of midriff 18 b is pulledoutwardly, that is, away from the torso of user 20, to form hank 22 andthen gathered by wrapping tie 10 around the base of hank 22 as seen inFIG. 27. The size of the hank 22 may be adjusted to pull out more orless material from midriff 18 b to thereby, respectively, increase ordecrease the waisting effect. With the desired size of hank 22 formed,tie 10 is tightened around the base of hank 22 and releasably lockedinto position by forming for example a lock 24 where tie 10 is twistedonto itself. Lock 24 is advantageously formed approximately midway alongthe length of tie 10, midway between beads 14. To cause the waistingeffect around 18 b, the material of midriff 18 b is gathered indirections H to form hank 22.

As seen in FIG. 29, a similar method may be employed to shorten thelength of a dress or other garment 18, that is, so as to raise thehemline 18 a in this instance by forming hank 22 from a gathering ofmaterial into the hank by tensioning the material vertically, forexample in direction I as seen in FIG. 29. Although shown as a gatheringof hank 22 on the front of garment 18 it will be understood that thelocation of hank 22 will be located to as cause the optimized or desiredeffect on the garment, and thus may be positioned along the side or eventhe back, top or bottom of any relatively light fabric garment 18.

Further it will be understood that although hank 22 is shown in theillustrations as being relatively large, this is by way of example onlyand intended for ease of understanding the illustration. Hank 22 may inuse be relatively small or relatively large depending on the amount ofadjustment to the garment which is desired by the user. The smaller thehank 22, the more easily it is disguised when for example folded over orrolled around (herein collectively referred to as being gathered) by orinto tie 10, whereafter tie 10 may be then folded over by manipulatingthe covered wire and beads 14 of tie 10. In the line illustrations ofthe figures it is difficult to convey, but the folding or rolling ofhank 22, where hank 22 is of course matched to the rest of the fabric ofgarment 18 (as it is formed from the same material), significantlycamouflages the existence of hank 22 when the hank is folded or rolledor otherwise compressed up, against or into the body of the remainder ofthe garment. An observer viewing such an adjusted garment sees thedecorative effect of tie 10, and in particular of beads 14, andgenerally doesn't notice the presence of hank 22 or understand itssignificance in the shaping of the appearance of the material, forexample, the fabric of garment 18. The lighter the weight of the fabric,the more easily it is disguised. Examples of lighter weight fabricsinclude, but are not limited to: polyester and spandex blend, cotton,nylon, silk, etcetera.

As seen in the example of FIGS. 30-35, a skirt may be shortened byforming a pair of hanks 22. In the illustration, which again is notintended to be limiting, hanks 22 are formed in the front of the waist18 d so as to draw the material upwardly in direction J in the case ofFIG. 30 or so as to draw the waist inwardly in direction K in the caseof FIG. 31. As seen in the sequence of views thereafter, in FIGS. 32-35respectively, a tie 10 is wrapped around so as to gather the pair ofhanks 22, and with the size of the hanks configured to provide thedesired adjustment to the waist size. Tie 10 is wrapped around the basesof hanks 22 in FIG. 33 and twisted together to form a knot 24. In FIG.34 the exposed ends of tie 10 and beads 14 are folded over to disguisehanks 22 against the waist of the garment. As seen in FIG. 35, hanks 22and tie 10 may be tucked behind the waistband of the garment.

In the example of FIGS. 36-40, when it is desired to either shortengarment 18 or specifically to raise the neckline 18 e of garment 18,when garment 18 has shoulder straps 18 f a hank 22 may be gathered fromeach shoulder strap 18 f. This may for example be done by intertwining acorresponding tie 10, for example using the circular or twisting motionin direction L seen in FIG. 38 which results in a spiral form of hank 22as shown in FIG. 40. The exposed ends of tie 10 may then be decorativelydisplayed for example by bending them to extend more or less downwardlyalong strap 18 f, or maybe tucked in behind the strap so as to hide theexposed ends of tie 10.

In the example of FIG. 41, tie 10 is affixed to neckline 18 e so as tosuspend a decorative pendant 26 therefrom. Pendant 26 may be suspendedfrom the body of tie 10, that is, from the covered wire which extendsbetween the pair of beads 14. Beads 14 serve to prevent the pendant fromsliding off the end of the tie 10. Tie 10 may be folded over so as toexpose one bead 14 on the front of the neckline 18 e and so as to hidethe other bead 14 behind the neckline 18 e.

In FIG. 42, a tie 10 is used to gather material in the centre of bust 18g to thereby lower the lower vertex of neckline 18 in direction Mbetween the normal position shown in dotted outline and the desiredlowered adjusted position shown held in place using tie 10. In thisinstance, hank 22 is formed of the gathered material at bust 18 g andmay be folded over and compressed using one bead 14 so as to disguisethe hank in the manner of the previous example of FIG. 28.

In FIG. 58 a tie 10 is illustrated being used to clamp two ends of ascarf 26, or other elongate fabric neck-wrap, around the neck of a user20. A tie 10 is also used as a belt keeper for the loose end protrudingfrom the buckle of belt 28. Extra ties 10 may be kept on the belt loops,etcetera, and will appear as decorations on the clothing until neededelsewhere during the day.

In FIGS. 44 and 45 ties 10 are used, respectively, to secure the hair 30of user 20; firstly, by retaining bangs 30 a out of the face of theuser; secondly, for clamping the long hair into pigtails 30 b (in oneinstance by twisting tie 10 so as to form a knot, and in the otherinstance to form tie 10 into a clamping spiral); and, thirdly, in FIG.45 to pull the hair 30 of the user up so as to form a bun 30 c.Applicant has forward that the use of conventional elastic loops to holda pigtail creates static when the pigtail is pulled through the elasticloop. The use of tie 10 avoids the creation of static in the user'shair. Further, in addition to what is shown in FIGS. 44 and 45, a usermay use a tie 10 to hold hair which is very loosely pulled back or up,so as to allow the hair to hang in a swoop, while securely holding theend of the hair against the hair on the user's scalp. Applicant hasfound that trying to use barrettes for this purpose does not work as theends of the loosely hanging hair quickly works itself free of or slipsin the barrette.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of theforegoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible inthe practice of this invention without departing from the spirit orscope thereof. For example ties 10 may be used to form, and disguise,hanks in curtains so as to change the shape or dimensions of thecurtains. Ties 10 may also be used to tension cloth tablecloths bypulling taunt a hank of the tablecloth material under the corners of thetable. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed inaccordance with the substance defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fastening system comprising; an elongate,flexibly deformable tie, which includes a flexibly deformable length ofwire having opposite ends, and wherein a pair of beads are coupled tosaid opposite ends; one bead of said pair of beads on each end of saidopposite ends, and wherein a wire covering is mounted on said wire so asto extend substantially an entire length of said wire exposed betweensaid pair of beads, and wherein said covering is chosen from the groupcomprising: sleeve, sheath, wrap, tube, wherein said opposite ends ofsaid wire and corresponding ends of said wire covering are anchored insaid beads, and wherein said beads provide a pressure bearing surfacefor a user to apply pressure to said opposite ends of said wire and tomanipulate said wire by bending or looping said wire or twisting saidopposite ends of said wire to releasably lock said ends to each other,and wherein said pressure bearing surface extends laterally outwardly ofsaid wire which extends between said beads, and wherein said each ofsaid opposite ends of said wire are formed as an anchor which extendssaid laterally outwardly of said wire which extends between said pair ofbeads.
 2. A method of using the fastening system of claim 1, comprising:(a) providing at least one said tie, (b) located a position of a hank ofa material to be adjusted, wherein, in said position, upon a gatheringof said hank, results in a desired adjustment of said material andwherein said desired adjustment is as a result of said adjustmentschosen from the group comprising: (i) a shortening of said material,(ii) a waisting of said material, (iii) a pinching of said material,(iv) a pleating of said material, (v) a folding of said material, (vi) agathering of said material, (vii) a bundling of said material, (viii) afastening together of a plurality of pieces of said material, (c)gathering said hank of said material to cause said desired result, (d)wrapping said tie around said hank, (e) manipulating said beads so as tobend said opposite ends of said wire and said pair of beads to flattensaid hank so as to mask said hank.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein saidmaterial is chosen from the group comprising: cloth of a garment, theneck of a garment, the waist of a garment, the bust of a garment, thestraps of a garment including the shoulder straps of at least onegarment worn by the user, the user's hair, laces including shoe and bootlaces, a duvet and duvet cover.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein saidwire covering is chosen from said group further comprising: a wirecoating applied directly to said wire, a flexible sheath, a flexiblesleeve, a flexible elongate wrap wrapped onto said wire, shoe laces. 5.The method of claim 4 wherein said wire is of a gauge substantially inthe range of 20-22 gauge.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said anchorof said wire is formed of at least one flattened substantially spiralcoil of said opposite ends of said wire.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein said anchor is formed of a pair of said coils.
 8. The method ofclaim 7 wherein said pair of said coils are disposed on opposite sidesof a corresponding end of said wire covering so as to be insubstantially opposed facing relation, and so that laterally oppositeedges of said pair of said coils extend said laterally of said wireextending between said pair of beads.
 9. The method of claim 8 whereineach bead of said pair of beads is formed of bead elements chosen fromthe group comprising: mouldable, curable material including clay, resin,plastic; buttons, decorative rigid objects.
 10. A fastening methodcomprising the steps of: (a) providing an elongate deformable, bendablewire member wherein said bendable member is deformable between anunwrapped position and a wrapped position and to remain so deformed whenbent into either position or between either position. (b) providingwearing apparel made of fabric and having oppositely disposed interiorand exterior surfaces, and gathering a hank by a gathering or bunchingof said fabric so as to project said hank from said exterior surface ofsaid apparel whereby at least one fit dimension of said apparel issubstantially altered, and wherein said fit dimension is chosen from thegroup comprising: a lateral width, a height, a length, a waist line, abust line, a hem line, a shoulder width, an inseam, (c) positioning saidmember so as to press a mid-portion of said member against saidprojection of said hank, closely adjacent said exterior surfaces of saidapparel adjacent said hank, (d) wrapping at least one half turn of eachof said opposite ends of said member around said hank so that saidmember extends substantially at least completely around said hank andsnugging said member around said hank so as to releasably stabilize andlock said hank in its position on said apparel and so as to leave saidopposite ends of said member each cantilevered from said hank, (e)pressing said cantilevered said ends of said member against any bunchingof said fabric around said hank so as to flatten said bunching.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 further including providing decorative ornamentationon said member, on one or both of said opposite ends of said memberand/or on said mid-portion of said member.
 12. The method of claim 10includes forming two or more of said hanks and using at least one ofsaid members to said stabilize and lock said two or more of said hanksof said fabric.
 13. The method of claim 16 wherein said at least one ofsaid members is a plurality of said members, to said stabilize and locksaid two or more of said hanks.
 14. The method of claim 10 furtherincluding twisting said ends of said member around each other followingwinding of said member around said hank so as to releasably lock saidmid-portion of said member at said hank while leaving said ends saidcantilevered from said hank.